Refrigerating apparatus



Jan. 28, A. A REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 31,1953

INVENTOR Patented Jan; 28, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE aararcemrmc APPARATUS Andrew A. Kucher, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to General Motors Corporation, 'Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Application August 31, 1933, Serial No. 687,622

15 Claims.

by merely stacking the bottles wherever con-,

While such a 1 net 20 having insulated outer walls 2| which envenient within the refrigerator. practice may result in properly cooled beverages at times, nevertheless it is at best merely a hit or miss proposition. Generally the cooled bottles having been located within the refrigerator for a relatively long period of time, have been gradually moved to the rear of the refrigerator so that when properly cooled, they are almost invariably in an inaccessible position; This results in the warm bottle being more accessible than the properly cooled bottles and consequently it is usually the case that the properly cooled bottles remain unused within the refrigerator while the relatively warm bottles are removed.

My invention overcomes these difficulties heretofore mentioned by providing a method of and means for cooling bottled beverages efiiciently and quickly and at the same time providing for the easy removal of the properly cooled beverages in preference to the relatively warm bottles.

I It is a further object of my invention to provide a method of and. means for supporting and guiding the bottled beverages gradually intofheat exchange relation with the cooling unit located within the household refrigerator and retaining the cooled bottles in a location or position easily accessible from the exterior of-therefrigerator.

A still further object of my invention is to provide, as an article of manufacture, a rack adapted to be inserted and removed from a mechanical refrigerator for supporting bottles or the like therein, and 'for guiding and retaining the cooled bottles in a cold zone adjacent'the cooling means where they will be accessible until they are used.

' It is another object of my invention to provide a method of and a means for arranging and maintaining the bottles in a refrigerator in the order in which they are placed therein and making the coldest bottles readily accessible at all times.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following de-. scription, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawing: 1

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view through the upper portion of a domestic refrigerator cabinet disclosing one embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view looking 5 down upon the bottles on their supporting means;

and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the lines 3--3 of Fig.2.

Referring to the drawing, and more particu- 10 larly to Fig. 1, there is shown a refrigerator cabic1ose a food storage compartment 22. Within the upper portion of the food storage compartlment 22 there is provided a cooling unit or evapo- 15 .rating means 23 containing a plurality of ice trays .24 for freezing ice cubes therein. The cooling Zunit 23 cools the air within the food storage com- ;partment 22 and thereby maintains the articles stored therein at a sufficiently low temperature to 20 properly preserve the food therein and to maintain other articles at the desired temperature. The food storage compartment 22 contains a pl irality of shelves for supporting the food therein," one shelf 25 of which is shown directly be- 25 'neath the cooling unit 23 supported upon supporting means 26 which project from opposite sides of the inner side of the wall 21. This shelf 25 supports a drip tray 26 located immediately beneath the cooling unit-23 for collecting the drip 30 and condensation from the cooling unit.

It has been customary to use such a shelf for the cooling of bottles and other containers such as glasses and dishes within the refrigerator cabinet; However, when stored thereon in the 35 ordinary manner, the bottles and other containers are first placed in the rear portion of the cabinet and then as more bottles are put in, they are placed progressively toward the front portion of the cabinet. Thus, the coldest bottles and 40 other containers which have been placed first in the cabinet are made relatively inaccessible by being behind the other bottles and containers in the front of the cabinet.

In order to improve this condition and to make 5 these colder bottles more accessible, I provide a means for progressively moving-the bottles into th colder portion of the cabinet adjacent the cooling unit. In doing so I cause the coldest bottles to be moved to the front of the cabinet where they are readily and freely accessible.

In order to do this, I provide a generally horizontal bottle rack 30 made of some suitablestainless and relatively noncorrodable material, such as aluminum. This bottle rack 30 is formed out v 70 contents of these containers.

' rack is therefore not limited to bottles but guiding the bottles. This bottle rack is supported upon the shelf 25 at the side of the cooling 5 unit 23 with the closed. or curved end 32 of the U-shaped track at the rear of the cabinet. In order to form this track I provide an up-tumed flange 33 at the edge portion of the rack which is also in the form of a U-shape and provides the outer retaining wall of the track, The in:

ner retaining wall of the track is formed by a raised f-central portion 34 which extends IOngi;= tudinafiy through the middle of the rack midway betweeh the outer sides of the rack. The racl-z 5 is provided with a large aperture 35 in the bot? 1 tom of :the track portion to promote the flow of air through the rack so as not to unduly obstruct the circulation within the cabinet. The smaller apertures '36 are provided in the raised center 6; portion of the' rack. These smaller apertures also permit the circulation of air therethrough. i The front portion 31 of the rack is bent under so as to form a spring clip which engages the heavy front bar 39 'of the shelf 25. This clip 38 therefore serves as a fastening means for fastening the rack to the shelf 25 and thereby holds the rack in proper position upon the shelf. By this construction, the rack is made portable and removable and may be moved toward or away 30 from the cooling unit 23 to vary the cooling effect or from one side of the cabinet to the other.

In utilizing the rack, the bottles 40 are first placed in the track at the front portion on the left leg which serves as the entering portion of the track. The bottles are then pushed rearwardly upon t is left leg and as more and more are put in, the first bottles round the curved portion of the track at the rear of the cabinet and are then moved into the straight portion of the track at the right side of the rack forming the right leg which is adjacent the cooling unit 23. The right leg of the track is in a relatively cool zone since it is beside the cooling unit- 23. The left leg of the track is in a somewhat and the bottles pushed around a sufiicient distance, the first bottles will be moved up to the front-of the cabinet. The front portion of the right leg of the track forms the exit portion thereof from which the cold bottles are removed.

With this method and arrangement, the coldest bottle, which has been placed in the cabinet first, is always the first bottle in the right leg of the track, that is, the portion of the track adjacent the cooling unit. Thus, the coldest bottles are always readily and freely accessible.

In addition to cooling .bottles, the rack may also be used in a similar manner for water glasses, milk bottles and other bottles, dessert dishes, as well as other dishes, and jars and the may be used for any container.

In addition to providing accessibility, this rack also serves as an indicator and it indicates which 75 is the coldest bottle since it keeps all the bottles The use of the.

of sheet aluminum which is provided with a depressed U-shaped tract; 3| for supporting and which have heen placed in the cabinet in their of the track,the bottles are progressively warmer and are, of course, the bottles which have been later placed in the cabinet. This arrangement continues around the rear curved portion up to the front portion on the left side of .the cabinet.

Thus, the bottles are always arranged in .the order in which they have been placed first into the cabinet. The bottle which has been placed first in the cabinet is the front bottle en the right side of the track, While the bottle which has been placed last in the rack' is the front bottle on the left hand side of the cabinet. In this way the order is always preserved and the user will always know which bottle has been in the cabinet the longest and will have ready and free access thereto.

Instead of having the track at the right side of the cooling unit, the track may be so located that the bottles are inserted upon one -side of the cooling unit, pass progressively around the rear of the cooling unit and are then moved forwardly in order along the opposite side of the cooling unit. With such an arrangement, both sides of the cooling unit may be utilized to cool the bottles.

In the preferred modification I have shown the bottle rack as a member separate from and resting on the shelf. 4 Obviously, the rack could equally as well be formed integral with the shelf by providing up-turned flanges on the various wires or rods forming the shelf.

While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed, constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that ether forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. A container rack for a refrigerator including a generally flat metal structure having a U-shaped groove formed therein providing a track forsupporting and guiding containers in a U-shaped path within the eold'circulating air within the refrigerator, said rack having fastening means for fastening the rack to a refrigerator shelf.

2. A domestic refrigerator cabinet having a cooling unit therein for cooling the air within the cabinet, a generally flat structure forming a rack within the cabinet for supporting and guiding containers within the cold circulating air in the cabinet, said rack including guide means for guiding and permitting the forcible movementand the pushing of the colder containers prog'ressively toward the front of the cabinet so that the coldest container will be the foremost.

3. A container rack adapted to be supported within a domestic refrigerator comprising a generally fiat metal structure including a track having supporting portions forming the bottom of the track or supporting the bottoms of the containers and guide portions having a height less than the width of the track extending along the sides of the track spaced a slightly greater distance than the width of the containers for preserving the alignment and guidi g the'containers from one end of the track toa other, said guide portions being terminated at the ends of the track to form entering and exit portions for the track.

4. A container rack adapted to be supported within a domestic refrigerator comprising a generally fiat metal structure including a track having supporting portions forming the bottom of the track or supporting the bottoms of the containers and guide portions having a height less than the width of the track extending along the sides of the track spaced a slightly greater distance than the width of the containers for preserving the alignment and guiding the containers from one end of the track to another, said guide portions being terminated at the ends of the track to form entering and exit portions for the track, said rack having resilient fastening means for fastening the rack to the front edge of a refrigerator shelf and for holding it in place thereon.

5. In a refrigerator, wall defining a food space having a given depth, a horizontal shelf in said food space, a track associated with said shelf having lateral rail parts and bottom contact surface of small area, and a plurality of cylindrical containers on said track, the length of the track being substantially equal to the depth of the refrigerator, the width of the track being not materially greater than twice the diameter of a container, the track being disposed depthwise of the refrigerator, said rail parts being a relatively small distance above bottom contact surface and constituting the only retaining means for the containers, whereby a container may be pushed at the front of the refrigerator to cause all the containers to travel in the track, guided by the rail parts, the containers on one side of the track moving rearwardly and on the other forwardly, the containers acting as rollers with respect to each other.

6. In a refrigerator, walls defining a food space having a given depth, a horizontal shelf in said food space, a track associated with said shelf made essentially of sheet metal and having lateral rail parts and bottom contact surface of small area, and a plurality of cylindrical containers on said track, the length of the track being substantially equal to the depth of the refrigerator, the width of the track being not materially greater than twice the diameter of a container, the track being disposed depthwise of the refrigerator, said rail parts being a relatively small distance above the bottom contact surface and constituting the only retaining means for the containers, whereby a container may be pushed at the front of the refrigerator to cause all the containers to travel in the track, guided by the rail parts, the containers on one side of the track moving rearwardly and on the other forwardly, the containers acting as rollers with respect to each other.

7. In a refrigerator, walls defining a food space having a given depth, a horizontal shelf in said food space, a separate track having lateral rail parts and bottom contact surface of small area, and a plurality of cylindrical containers on said track, means to position the track on the shelf, the length of the track being substantially equal to the depth of the refrigerator, the width of the track being not materially greater than twice the diameter of a container, the track being disposed depthwise of the refrigerator, said rail parts being a relatively small distance above the bottom contact surface and constituting the only retaining means for the containers, whereby a container may be pushed at the front of the refrigerator to cause all the containers to travel in the track, guided by the rail parts, the containers on one side of the track moving rearwardly and on the other forwardly, the containers acting as rollers with respect to each other.

8. The combination with a plurality of containers, of a supporting and guiding structure therefor having bottom supporting surface and guide parts and forming a track, the guide parts directing the containers near the bottom, said structure being formed to permit circulation of air in contact with the containers and said track having relatively straight portions and a curved portion, said structure permitting the containers to be pushed by hand around the track.

9. Apparatus as set forth in claim 8 in which the containers are cylindrical and of given outside diameter and the Width of the track structure is not materially greater than twice the outside diameter of a container.

10. Apparatus as set forth in claim 8 in which the guide parts are somewhat above the bottom of the containers.

11. Apparatus as set forth in claim 8 including structure for securing the track structure to the shelf of a refrigerator.

12. Apparatus as set forth in claim 8 constructed to permit the containers to be pushed around the track in either direction.

13. The combination with a plurality of containers, of a supporting and guiding structure therefor having bottom supporting surface and guide parts and forming a track, the guide parts directing the containers near the bottom and constituting the only guiding means for the containers, said structure being" formed to permit circulation of air in contact with the containers, said structure permitting the containers to be pushed by hand around the track.

14. For use in a refrigerator, a track having straight portions and a curved portion and formed of metal sheet material, part of the material forming lateral guide rails and part of the material forming bottom surface, and a plurality of containers adapted to rest upon and be pushed around the track, the sheet material being formed to permit circulation of air in contact with the containers.

15. For use in a refrigerator, 9. track of greater extent in one direction than in another, a plurality of containers adapted to rest upon and be pushed around said track, said track being formed to permit circulation of air in contact with said containers, and means for positioning said track on the shelf of a refrigerator.

ANDREW A. KUCHER. 

